LAUSD Schools Choice initiative a jolt to system

Los Angeles Unified may have opened its gates for independent operators to run up to a third of its campuses, but the key players - including the influential teachers union - do not anticipate a bitter power grab to take over public schools.

The controversial Schools Choice initiative prompted much talk of winners and losers leading up to the school board's near unanimous approval of the measure last week.

Charters and nonprofit groups celebrated the chance for more access to resources, while labor leaders said the plan would set the nation's second-largest school district on a path toward privatization.

The measure, put forward by school board member Yolie Flores Aguilar, gives outside operators a chance to put in bids to run up to 250 new and underperforming schools.

Some educators see the plan as a huge jolt to the district's bureaucratic foundation that will finally allow it to address alarmingly high dropout rates and dismal student performance by taking control away from stodgy bureaucrats. But others see it as the natural evolution of a district that has forever experimented with change.

"Does this mean it's the end of public education? No ... Does it mean privatization? ... No," said Charles Kerchner, a professor at Claremont's Graduate School of Education and author of "Learning from LA: Institutional Change in American Public Education."

"But it does mean we are going to have public education looking a lot different than it does now."

Kerchner, a researcher of reform efforts at LAUSD, said over the last 15 years the entry of charters, partnership campuses, pilot schools and other alternatives - that give schools more local control and flexibility than traditional schools - have spurred pockets of change across the district.

"LAUSD has more experimentation going on than any other large urban school district... more than in Philly, New York, Chicago," Kerchner said.

"Many people believe that this marks the beginning of the end at LAUSD, but this process started 15 years ago. I say it's the end of the beginning."

LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines said the idea of having a smorgasbord of school options is what drove his support of the Schools Choice plan.

In a letter sent out to all district employees last week, Cortines explained that the plan signals a "new day in LAUSD."

"Some people want this district to ... have everything fit into ticky tacky boxes, like in the 1950s," Cortines said later in an interview.

"Well, I'm saying that has failed the children of this district, and across America."

Under the choice plan, the district will invite independent school operators, as well as traditional district schools and the teachers union, to submit plans to run schools. The school board will then decide which bid makes the most sense for the community.

Charter schools in mix

For many, it is a long-awaited opportunity to improve public schools. The strongest proponents of the plan are charter school operators, who organized some 1,500 students, parents and teachers at district headquarters last week to pressure the school board to accept the plan. Charter schools are tuition-free public campuses that have more flexibility with hiring, budget and curriculum decisions.

Charters have fought and even sued the district for more access to facilities, but even the best funded and organized school leaders said they do not plan to take on more than a few schools under the new plan.

"Everyone needs to calm down," said Marco Petruzzi, president of Green Dot Public Schools, one of the largest charter operators in Los Angeles.

"Internally I don't think we have the capacity to take over more than one or two schools a year, maybe we can move up to three a year later on."

Charter schools have mushroomed in the district over the past decade. They now number 150 schools and serve nearly 58,000 students. But in a recent survey of its more than 100 members, the California Charter Schools Association found that only 16 operators had significant interest in bidding for LAUSD schools.

"I don't think anyone in the charter world thinks we'll have 250 schools in the next two years," said Jed Wallace, president of CCSA.

Haves and have-nots?

The idea of diverse school models has been adopted by other large urban districts including New York and Chicago. But under this plan, Los Angeles is in a strong position to become the leading converter of traditional schools into alternative campuses.

"For the first (time) we are getting away from all public education having to be provided by the public education establishment," said Penny Wohlstetter, director of USC's Center on Educational Governance.

"This is going to force people to earn their right to run a school ... and I think that's a good thing."

John Rogers, director of UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access, said while he agreed that more options could help address student needs, accountability and oversight would be crucial to ensuring equity among schools.

"As we move forward ... we have to maintain the idea that this is a public school district, serving the broader public and ensuring decent conditions for all students," Rogers said.

Specifically Rogers said some alternative models use applications to enroll students, they ask parents to agree to volunteering on campus or they adopt methods of discipline that push out underperforming students.

If the practices go unchecked, Rogers said, they could end up creating a district of haves and have-nots.

"The challenge at this time is not to create a few quality learning settings at the expense of other schools but rather to create a system that serves all students well," Rogers added.

One model touted by several LAUSD board members that would not require external operators is the pilot school model.

At a pilot school, administrators can require teachers to agree to work under more flexible working conditions than traditional school teachers. Pilot school teachers work under what is called a "thin" union contract that allows for flexibility but still gives them job security.

Board president Monica Garcia, whose district houses the five pilot schools currently open in LAUSD, has said she would like to see a "thin" contract at every school in the district.

"If we would've had that, there would be no need for this resolution," Garcia said.

Garcia along with Flores Aguilar who authored the school choice plan, have been targeted for a potential recall by some teachers union members.

But Garcia said the contract is an example of the district and its teachers working together toward reform, and she hopes the new plan will motivate more innovation.

"This resolution was not about giving schools up to charters ... it's about people stepping up to the table with their best plans."

Despite ardently fighting the proposal, leaders of United Teachers Los Angeles said they plan to use this proposal to get more teacher-driven reform implemented in the district.

"We are in the process now of putting our plans together and we will have the cooperation and resources of our state and national affiliates ... UTLA is going to go all out on this," said A.J. Duffy, UTLA president.

Even as the union looks at what legal avenues it could take to stop the proposal, Duffy said, it would also be hosting workshops for its members - those interested in applying for new schools or underperforming schools - to help them organize their plans.

"We are way ahead of the game here because we already have our models."